KSR's quick takeaways from Kentucky's win over Mount St. Mary's
Make that two consecutive wins for Kentucky, as the Wildcats defeated Mount St. Mary’s 80-55 on Tuesday to move to 2-1 on the season. It was a victory highlighted by standout performances from UK’s biggest stars, along with some late-game heroics by players at the end of the team’s bench.
What were the biggest takeaways from the victory? And what should fans expect as the team looks ahead to Ohio later this week?
Oscar Tshiebwe gets his third straight double-double
Another day, another absurd performance for Kentucky’s anchor in the middle. Coming in averaging 15.5 points and 20.0 rebounds per contest, Tshiebwe finished the day with 24 points (11-14 FG, 2-2 FT), 16 rebounds, three blocks, one assist, one steal, two turnovers. He’s now averaging 18.3 points, 18.7 rebounds and 2.7 blocks in three games.
Tshiebwe’s dominant performance wasn’t limited to easy clean-up scoring opportunities, either. He was showing off his range, as well, knocking down a handful of mid-range jumpers and scoring in post-up situations.
John Calipari mentioned after the game that Mount St. Mary’s is a team that limits the three well, and it shows. The Wildcats only took ten shots from deep, hitting four of them — two apiece for TyTy Washington and Kellan Grady. In turn, though, the emphasis on guarding the perimeter opened things up for Tshiebwe in the paint, and the 6-foot-9, 255-pound center capitalized.
Tshiebwe now has the third-most rebounds through three games (56) over the past 25 seasons, behind only Michael Beasley (60, 2007) and Blake Griffin (58, 2008). He’s a monster among mortals and has become must-see TV every time he plays.
TyTy Washington gets hot
Welcome to the show, Mr. Washington. After scoring 19 combined points on 33.3% shooting overall and 0% from three in his first two games as a Wildcat, the five-star freshman finished the day with 16 points on 7-12 shooting and 2-3 from deep to go with three rebounds, three assists and one steal in 29 minutes.
Calipari was quick to point out Washington’s four turnovers, but it’s clear the 6-foot-3 guard has all the tools in the world to be an elite scorer at this level. He’s knockdown from deep in catch-and-shoot situations, deadly in the mid-range with his floater, and has a soft touch around the basket.
He’s still finding his footing as a complementary ball-handler, but the scoring touch is there. As Washington’s efficiency continues to improve — this marks three straight games of climbing shooting numbers — Kentucky’s ceiling raises.
We’re still waiting for his inevitable 20-plus-point scoring explosion, but tonight was a fine start. He’ll get there sooner rather than later.
Zan Payne nets bettor $200K
Earlier in the day, betting expert Darren Rovell broke the news that one better put $220,000 on the Wildcats to cover the spread (-24.5) on Tuesday, a bet that would net him $200,000 if successful.
It was a stressful start, as Kentucky led by just four with four minutes to go in the half and then six with less than two minutes. The Wildcats then ballooned the lead up to as many as 31 points with less than eight minutes to go in the game.
Following the final TV timeout, though, MSM cut the lead down to 22 points with 2:33 to go. It stuck at 23 points until the 42-second mark when Zan Payne went to the free-throw line and knocked down two shots to go up 25 points. To seal the betting win, he stole the ball at the other end and went coast-to-coast for a strong layup finish to put the Wildcats up 27 points with 25 seconds left.
The Mountaineers missed a three with 13 seconds to go, a shot that would’ve lost the $200K for the (insane) bettor. Instead, MSM got a follow-up score to cut the lead to 25 in the final seconds.
Kentucky wins, bettor wins. And it’s all thanks to Zan Payne’s late-game heroics. What a world.
Good teams win, but great teams cover.
Kentucky leads in most team stats in the win
Looking for a dominant win across the board? Look no further than Kentucky’s victory over Mount St. Mary’s, regardless of the final score.
UK finished the day shooting 53% overall, 40% from three and 100% from the line compared to 34/32/62 splits for MSM. The Wildcats had fewer turnovers (16-12), dominated on the glass (41-27), double the second-chance points (16-8), triple the fast break points (13-4), more steals (9-7), nearly double the assists (15-8) and led for 34:55 compared to 4:06 for the Mountaineers.
Taking on a team that made the NCAA Tournament in 2021, Kentucky thrived across the board and buried the opposition down the stretch. It may not have had the same number of highlight plays as the team’s win over Robert Morris last week, but the win was just as convincing.
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